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Why did I start watching a new show called "Drive", when it didn't even start until mid-April? Well, it was produced and written by a guy named Tim Minear; for those who don't know, he previously pulled the same duties on a certain show about a crew of space-age smugglers in a beat-up cargo ship called Serenity. And it starred Nathan Fillion, who previously played the captain in a certain show about a crew of space-age smugglers in a beat-up cargo ship called Serenity. I wasn't about to pass up the spiritual successor to Firefly (which I adored), even if the story was totally different; it could have been about gardening and I would have checked it out.
But in this case, the concept was this: picture The Amazing Race. Now make it a fictional drama instead of a reality show. Have the race sponsored by a mysterious organization. Then take away all the rules and even the presumption of legality (racers can speed, steal, sabotage cars, kill, whatever, so long as they don't harm the one race official we've seen). Give all the participants ulterior motives for racing. To make sure a few of the racers keep racing, kidnap their family members. Make it continuity-heavy (on the level of "Heroes"). And oh yeah, let the bodies start hitting the asphalt by the third episode (I'd expect no less from Minear). In a word: awesome.
Oh, did I mention one other similarity to Firefly? Minear, apparently either the forgiving sort or suffering from memory loss, gave the show to FOX, who canceled Firefly after 11 episodes of poor marketing and frequent time-slot shuffling. Well, maybe I'm suffering from the same thing Minear was, because I figured maybe Fox would have learned its lesson from the huge outcry following that cancellation (as well as the fandom explosions that actually revived Futurama and Family Guy). Well, FOX did change its tactics... it killed the show after three episodes instead of 11. Less than two weeks after the premiere; not even enough time for word of mouth to bring people in. (I never would have found out about it myself if I hadn't been at a party with American Idol on in the background and spotted Fillion's face in an ad.) So, in short, just enough time to hook me in and not enough time to even get the plot moving.
The most annoying part? FOX still has House MD, so I can't even declare with righteous honesty that I'll never watch the network again after this.
But in this case, the concept was this: picture The Amazing Race. Now make it a fictional drama instead of a reality show. Have the race sponsored by a mysterious organization. Then take away all the rules and even the presumption of legality (racers can speed, steal, sabotage cars, kill, whatever, so long as they don't harm the one race official we've seen). Give all the participants ulterior motives for racing. To make sure a few of the racers keep racing, kidnap their family members. Make it continuity-heavy (on the level of "Heroes"). And oh yeah, let the bodies start hitting the asphalt by the third episode (I'd expect no less from Minear). In a word: awesome.
Oh, did I mention one other similarity to Firefly? Minear, apparently either the forgiving sort or suffering from memory loss, gave the show to FOX, who canceled Firefly after 11 episodes of poor marketing and frequent time-slot shuffling. Well, maybe I'm suffering from the same thing Minear was, because I figured maybe Fox would have learned its lesson from the huge outcry following that cancellation (as well as the fandom explosions that actually revived Futurama and Family Guy). Well, FOX did change its tactics... it killed the show after three episodes instead of 11. Less than two weeks after the premiere; not even enough time for word of mouth to bring people in. (I never would have found out about it myself if I hadn't been at a party with American Idol on in the background and spotted Fillion's face in an ad.) So, in short, just enough time to hook me in and not enough time to even get the plot moving.
The most annoying part? FOX still has House MD, so I can't even declare with righteous honesty that I'll never watch the network again after this.
